Pssst! by Adam Rex - Friday Five style

The new favorite of the entire children's department is Pssst! by Adam Rex.



Why do I like it?

1. Mixed media illustrations. The backgrounds are (mostly) monochromatic line drawings, while the main characters are rich oil paintings, and the important objects at the end are photographs. Ok, according to the book it is actually all oil and acrylic, but that's what they look like to me.
2. It works on many levels, and would work well as either a read a loud and a pour over by yourself book.
3. Gender ambiguity of the main character. In some pictures I see a girl and in others a boy, despite the hair clips, pink backpack, and saddle shoes.
4. The humor. The walrus area of the zoo is labeled "I am the walrus (koo-koo-kachoo)". Hee.
5. A group of zoo animals plotting together. Picture book gold.

There's a great review up at Book Buds.